The Cocktail Lovers Magazine Issue 33 Autumn 2019

ISSUE 33

AUTUMN 2019

The Icons Issue

ISSN 2052 0603

RHUBARB COLLINS

~ 30 ml Giffard Rhubarb liqueur 30 ml Gin 10 ml Giffard gum syrup 20 ml Fresh lemon juice 40 ml sparkling water

~ Method Shake first four ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass

Garnish Rhubarb ribbon

~

Proudly distributed by Mangrove in the UK - www.mangroveuk.com

IN-tro

IT'S BANDIED AROUND A LOT THESE DAYS,

BUT WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR SOMETHING OR SOMEONE TO BE REGARDED A

TRUE ICON? AND WHO DECIDES WHO

A C H I E V E S I C O N I C S TAT U S A N Y WAY ?

Big questions that need authoritative answers, which we’ve got from How Brands Become Icons author Douglas Holt. Not that we needed justification for dedicating this issue to the people, places and bottles that we consider to be 100% legit icons. But hey, it’s always good to have backup (p. 22).

Speaking of icons, our favourite drinks writers and historians Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown were given the near impossible task of narrowing down their pick of living legends for these pages (p. 31). While Jane Ryan asks us to toast those who are no longer with us (p. 28). We asked Joanne McKerchar, to delve into the archives at Diageo to shed light on one of the company’s most revered brands (p. 26), and former ad exec Patrick Collister reminisces about some of the most iconic drinks ads (p. 36).

Drinks-wise, the Martini (what else?) takes centre stage as Jake Burger takes us on a whistle-stop tour of its origins (p. 42). Joe and Daniel Schofield meanwhile pick seven standout recipes from their new book Schofield's Fine and Classic Cocktails, (p. 56), and Jane Ryan pops up again advising on where to sample the most iconic drinks in the world (p. 66).

Movie moments, details that count, books, bottles – you name it, they’re in here. And if we’ve left any icons out, let us know by contacting us through our social media channels below.

In the meantime, enjoy the read!

Please imbibe responsibly

Ms S & Mr G thecocktaillovers.com

Like

meet.thecocktaillovers

View

@thecocktaillovers

Follow

@cocktaillovers

The Cocktail Lovers - 3

IN-gredients

7. IN-the know

26. IN-the spotlight A peek in the archives

Joanne McKerchar on the evolution of one of the most revered bottles in the past 250 years

25 reasons to be a cocktail lover this season

Enjoying a threesome and sexing up our wardrobes – just two of the things we’re looking forward to in the next few months

13. IN-the know The people

Tom Bullock heads the cast of people, past and present, in the drinks industry hall of fame

14. IN-the know The detail

Close-up on the Press For Champagne button at Bob Bob Ricard

17. IN-the know The drink

In praise of the majestic Martini

28. IN-the spotlight In praise of icons past…

Jane Ryan pays her respects to the drinks industry’s departed

31. IN-focus

…and raising a glass to the living

While Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown highlight a few of today’s greats

36. IN-focus The adman cometh

Patrick Collister singles out his favourite drinks ads of all time

40. IN-focus

18. IN-the know The place

Inside Atlas, Singapore – a modern icon

22. IN-the spotlight What is an icon?

As defined by cultural branding expert Douglas Holt

4 - The Cocktail Lovers

The details that count

Cups of chicken soup, sawdust on the floor – the important details that keep guests coming back for more

IN-gredients

42. IN-focus

Editors: Sandrae Lawrence Gary Sharpen

Mmm is for Martini

1,000 words on one drink is harder than you think, as Jake Burger finds out

44. IN-style Best in show

The iconic bottles that we all know and love

50. IN-style Movie moments

Unforgettable drinks scenes from the Golden Age of cinema

54. IN-dulge Reading matters

10 essential books for cocktail lovers

56. IN-formed Hooked on classics

Joe and Daniel Schofield take on the most famous drinks recipes

60. IN-formed Word up

News, views, reviews and how-to's

66. IN-ternational

Iconic drinks and where to try them

Take your tastebuds on a journey from Florence to Singapore, New Orleans to London in pursuit of the perfect drinks

Sub-editor: Laura Hills Creative Director: James Cheverton at Burnt Studio burntstudio.com Photography Jason Bailey and Oliver Blackburn at Jason Bailey Studio jasonbaileystudio.com Contributors: Jake Burger Jared Brown Patrick Collister Joanne McKerchar Anistatia Miller Virginia Miller Jane Ryan Miles Watson With thanks to Vince and Allen at Gerry's Wines & Spirits for providing the bottles for our shoot (p. 44) On the cover: The Icons Issue For all editorial and advertising enquiries, please contact: mail@thecocktaillovers.com T: 020 7242 2546 thecocktaillovers.com Printed by Stephens & George Distributed by Gold Key Media Reproduction in whole or part of any contents of The Cocktail Lovers Magazine without prior permission from the editors is strictly prohibited.

The Cocktail Lovers Issue No. 33 Autumn 2019 The Cocktail Lovers magazine is published by The Cocktail Lovers Ltd. in London, UK PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

The Cocktail Lovers are proud winners of Best Cocktail & Spirits Publication, Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards 2016 and The London Evening Standard Progress 1000 – London’s Most Influential People 2015 and 2017

The Cocktail Lovers - 5

Contributors

Virginia Miller Since founding The Perfect Spot in 2007, Virginia Miller has been Zagat San Francisco editor, San Francisco Guardian critic and Table8 National Editor. Her work has been published in over 60 international publications and she regularly covers dining, spirits, cocktails and bars globally at Liquor.com, Where Traveler, Haute Living, Time Out, Distiller Magazine, Gin Magazine, Whisky Magazine, the London Times and beyond.

For over a decade, she's been called on to judge numerous spirits, bar, cocktail competitions and international awards panels, having now visited over 20,000 bars around the world.

For this issue she reveals one of her other passions, movies.

With drinks in, of course (p. 50).

Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown Winners of numerous awards including Imbibe Personality of the Year Award (2016), International Wine Spirits Competition Communicator of the Year Award (2011) and CLASS Awards for Best Drinks Writing (2010), Miller and Brown are two of the most respected historians and writers in the drinks business. Together they run Mixellany Ltd, a drinks consultancy, publishing company and online resource for cocktail and drink historical research. The 30 books they've published include ‘Shaken Not Stirred®: A Celebration of the Martini’, ‘The Mixellany Guide to Vermouth & Other Aperitifs’, and ‘The Deans of Drink’. We couldn’t think of anyone better to ask for their pick of the most iconic living people in the drinks industry (p. 31).

Patrick Collister

Jake Burger

Patrick was the executive creative thingamabob of advertising giants Ogilvy & Mather. He had a stint as chief creative doo-dah for a network of direct marketing agencies and for five years he was in charge of coloured pencils at Google's creative thinktank, The Zoo. He is currently the creative director of performance agency Ad-Lib.

Jake's career in drinks started in Leeds where he began bartending the day after his 18th birthday. After proving himself as a successful and respected bar manager he opened Jake’s Bar and Grill before moving to London to open The Portobello Star, housing The Ginstitute and London’s second smallest museum – this one dedicated to gin. Gin fans can now partake in their favourite spirit at his three-storey space, The Distillery which houses restaurants, bars, rooms and the increasingly popular gin-making sessions, as well as buying his awardwinning Portobello Road Gin. In these pages, Jake extols the many virtues of the iconic Martini (p. 42).

His book ‘How To Use Creativity and Innovation in Business’ is available on Amazon for less than the price of a small latte, while his insights into the world of advertising in drinks can be found on p. 36.

6 - The Cocktail Lovers

25

IN-the know

REASONS TO BE A COCKTAIL LOVER THIS SEASON Joining the brunch bunch, tuning in, chilling out and counting down to Christmas, just a few of the many things that we're looking forward to in the next few months

N1 o

We always knew that nightlife was an art form. Thankfully the folk at Barbican Art Gallery are on the same page. ‘Into the Night: Cabarets & Clubs in Modern Art’ celebrates the social and artistic role of cabarets, cafés and clubs around the world. No bars yet, but console yourself by nipping into the Martini Bar on the first floor for a swift one, before or after the main thing.

‘Into the Night: Cabarets & Clubs in Modern Art’ is at the Barbican Art

Gallery from 4 October 2019 to 19 January 2020. barbican.org.uk

erna schmidt-caroll: chansonette (singer), c. 1928. private collection. © estate erna schmidt-caroll

Drawing in the night

The Cocktail Lovers - 7

IN-the know

2

THREE

…Martini not your jam? Try soaking in Margarita on the Rocks instead. Get yours from bubblesandbutter.com

Sinking into a Martini

For reals. Almost as good as drinking a Martini is bathing in one. Shake off whatever ails you by easing into The Martini Emotional Detox Bath Soak. It’s almost, just almost as good as the real thing. goop.com

SIX

Sexing up our wardrobes

Tuning in, chilling out

Wait, did we get that right? Has Spiritland really created a headphone bar? Check out the selection of top-of-the-range cans while you sample a dram of whisky – sounds and sips? Count us in! spiritland.com

05

liman pencil dress, by roland mouret at harrods.com

No. four

Reasons to go shopping no. 141: it’s almost party time!

Add some swagger to your cocktail soireés with a f**k-off frock. Santa says you deserve it.

SEVEN

…and guys, this natty Paul Smith suit will do the job just perfectly. paulsmith.com

08

…even toymaker Mattel is in on the act. Check out Cocktail Dress Barbie striking a pose in the Barbie Fashion Model Collection. For grown-up dolls everywhere. barbie.mattel.com

NINE

Investing in multitasking products Like this: speakers, LED light, vase and wine cooler all in one. Smart stuff. us.kooduu.com 8 - The Cocktail Lovers

Dressing our fingers At this time of year, it would be positively rude to ignore the Twelve Days of Christmas song.

Particularly the five gold rings bit. Time to dial up the bling. Temple ring, solange.co.uk

IN-the know

10

Joining the brunch bunch French toast Jenga + a cool menu of breakfast cocktails… what’s not to love? Get your fix every Saturday at thelittleyellowdoor.com

12

Being super chilled We heart the new LG InstaView Door-in-Door refrigerator.

Not only does it make three crystal-clear, slow-melting ice spheres in 24 hours (with space to store 25), it also dispenses cubed and crushed ice from the door. How cool is that? lg.com

Enjoying a threesome

13

Why work with one US drinks guru when you can collaborate with three? The Vale Fox Distillery has joined forces with Leo Robitschek, Jeffrey Morgenthaler and gaz regan to create Tod & Vixen’s Dry Gin 1651. With names like this behind it, it’s got to be good. thevalefox.com

Going Artesian No, that’s not a typo, we’re talking about the new range of cocktail glasses designed by Remy Savage, Head Bartender at the Artesian bar in London, for Nude. Clean, classic, perfection itself. nude.com

ELEVEN

FOURTEEN

15

…but if you prefer yours on the low abv side, try Portobello Road Gin’s Temperance, coming in at a very drink-aware 4.2% abv. portobelloroadgin.com

16.

Making like Prohibition is a thing

…or skip the alcohol altogether with Sea Arch, a brand-new non-alcoholic alternative for gin lovers. notginltd.com

SEVENTEEN

Do we need to disguise our wine stash in a book-like contraption? Of course not. Is it fun? Damn straight it is!

Coming soon from neleman.es

Nailing it Pretty Vulgar had us when we heard that its nail polishes – or nail liquors – are packaged in whiskey-inspired bottles. And get this, there’s a wicked purple shade called Frisky Whiskey in the range. Love! prettyvulgar.com

The Cocktail Lovers - 9

IN-the know

18

NINETEEN

Showing off our language skills

Pampering our pooches Repeat after us: Cham:paws! Made with a

Parlay the wine lingo like a G with the Winerytale app.

selection of tail-waggingly good natural

Point your phone to the label, scan the code et pow! you

herbs including rose petals and rooibos,

can translate more than 100 languages – just like that.

pour it over your pooch’s food or serve as

thirdaurora.com

20

a celebratory drink. woofandbrew.com

TWENTY TWO

21

Lighting up There’s only one way to fragrance your room and that’s with the Orange Bitters candle from Jo Malone – it’s scentsational. jomalone.com

Cleaning up our act That Willy Chase is a clever soand-so. So what if you’ve spent the evening drinking his Chase Vodka?

Wipe the slate clean(ish) by gulping a shot of Willy’s Apple Cider Vinegar. Genius. willysacv.com

Waking up and smelling… …the coffee. Or tea made with this stylish Barisieur tea and coffee alarm clock. joyresolve.com

23

Counting down to Christmas

Looking to up your advent calendar game? Go for broke with the Very Old & Rare Whisky collection. 24 wee bottles of exceptional tasty vintages housed in a bespoke wooden box – yours for a mere £9,999.95 from masterofmalt.com

24

10 - The Cocktail Lovers

…or go for a taste of Christmas with Pickering’s Gin Baubles.

The Brussels Sprouts varietal might be a step too far in the flavoured spirits department, but you can’t blame the team for trying. pickeringsgin.com

TWENTY FIVE Styling it out This isn’t a water bottle, it’s a Prada water bottle. Which means it keeps your H20 way cooler than anything else. selfridges.com

THERE’S A HIGHBALL IN YOUR FUTURE

mural of tom bullock at sway, hyatt regency at fourth, louisville. commissioned in may 2019 and painted by kacy jackson: theartofkacy.com

IN-the know

THE PEOPLE Some are living, others are sadly no longer with us, but all of the people highlighted in this issue are lauded for the impact they’ve made in the world of drinks. Starting with Tom Bullock, featured here, the first black bartender to pen a cocktail book. For more, see page 28.

The Cocktail Lovers - 13

IN-the know

THE DETAIL Fun, decadent and oh-so hard not to obey, the Press For Champagne button at Bob Bob Ricard is a London institution. Check out more famous details in bars around the world on page 40.

14 - The Cocktail Lovers

IN-the know

18 - The Cocktail Lovers

IN-the know

THE PLACE The Art Deco-inspired building that houses Singapore’s award-winning Atlas is one thing, its incredible back bar is something else entirely.

Soaring an impressive three storeys, it’s guardian to 1,300 gins alone.

For more iconic bars, see page 66.

The Cocktail Lovers - 19

FIGURE. PICTURE. IDOL. SYMBOL. PORTRAIT. ICON. What is an icon?

‘Icon’: small word, big impact. Much like the term ‘iconic’. Look them up in the dictionary and you’ll see ‘icon’ described in a number of ways, including the following: ‘a person or thing regarded as a symbol of a belief, nation, community, or cultural movement’; ‘a person regarded as a sex symbol or as a symbol of the latest fashion trends’; and ‘an image, picture, representation, etc’. While ‘iconic’ is explained as ‘very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time’.

Those are simplified definitions – the things we probably all think we know about what it means to be an icon or, indeed, be deemed iconic. But as we’re devoting a whole issue to the subject/s we wanted to dig a little deeper. So we went straight to the top.

Douglas Holt is one of the world’s leading experts on branding and innovation. His book How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding has become something of an icon in its own right. He’s a former Harvard professor and L'Oreal Chair of Marketing at Oxford University, and developed cultural strategies for the likes of Microsoft, Jack Daniel’s, Coca-Cola, Ben & Jerry’s and Mastercard.

22 - The Cocktail Lovers

We sat him in the hot seat and asked: What is an icon?

It’s a person, organisation, building that changes, transforms or advances culture – it’s something or someone that takes perceived ideas, turns them on their head, tweaks them, drives culture, new ideas, new sensibilities, new meanings, in an important way that sticks over time. So it’s not just a fad or fashion.

Something shifted because of this brand, this company, this person, this movement. That symbol then becomes representative of a shift – the iconicity becomes the shorthand for whatever change in culture occurred.

IN-the spotlight

Is there a difference being famous and being an icon?

Fair question. I’d like to believe as a traditional highculture version that true icons are different than the Kardashians for instance. Just because you’re a celebrity doesn’t make you an icon. There are a small percentage of celebrities who are icons – David Bowie and the Sex Pistols for instance. In music, it’s pretty easy to see where they’ve had this huge transformative effect. Then there are icons on a more rarefied level – subculture, the intelligentsia, the art world – where there are people and organisations that have clearly had a transformative effect, and they are celebrated, venerated, but are generally never renowned or famous outside their world.

Those are the coolest icons. These days, they’re usually discovered because of social media and the fact that people are interested in authenticity.

Do we need icons?

I think all cultures have icons. It’s a standard term which is actually defined differently in semiotics. All cultures have icons but usually in traditional cultures – pre-modern, whatever – these are dominant symbols.

Religious and political symbols are iconic but because the cultures are more stable, it’s not that interesting as a term.

But when you get to modern culture – industrialisation, capitalism – especially post-modern, it’s so dynamic that iconicity becomes crucial because there’s so much content out there, so many entrepreneurs in every space trying to lead culture. We wouldn’t be able to sort things out and have any ability to gauge the huge chaos unless we had some way of simplifying and sorting it out. You need icons just to make culture work Who dictates who or what becomes an icon?

That depends on what we’re talking about. In the case of art or drinks say, there’s a subculture within that world who are the tastemakers and their collective viewpoint within that world becomes everything; you can’t become an icon unless you’re consecrated within that world, or the vertical media in your space have anointed you.

Is it possible for a person/brand to set out with the intention to be iconic or does it come later?

It differs. The big corporations, let’s call them iconlite, they can’t be cultural change agents but one can systematically pursue iconicity and do loads better than you’d do otherwise if you follow certain principles.

If we’re talking about the icons outside the corporate world, in the companies that are truly iconic, they tend to be driven by ideology, they have a burning desire to have impact in their subculture. I guess there’s a desire to be iconic but usually it’s more circumscribed to change the world in some way, or born from a desire to make

the best spirit; it’s usually not to be famous outside of the world at large, it’s to really impress the hell out of the more rarefied crowd and the desire to have impact in their sub-culture.

Is there an average time period before something can be considered iconic?

That’s a good question. I’ve never thought about that – it doesn’t happen in months, for sure. Certainly there needs to be a general acceptance, so the meaning has to be diffused, acceptance of how the change in culture has been affected. I’d say five to 10 years – it takes something like that before people can say that something is really impressive.

How does a brand, person place, maintain iconic status?

That’s a tough one. The way I describe it is like punctuated equilibrium, the evolutionary theory. There are moments of relative stability where there are no contradictions bearing down and challenging the accepted idea of a given thing, let’s say masculinity. That might hold for five years, it might hold for 15 years, but at some point the key categories – cars, cigarettes or whatever – are going to be challenged on those values and people will be searching for something else. The problem for an icon is you have all this credibility that you’ve earned for representing masculinity in a particular way – it’s what you’ve become renowned for – and then the particular brand of masculinity that you’ve established becomes less valuable, even old fashioned and anachronistic. You have to understand these cultural shifts and nail it. You can sustain iconicity and even grow it because that’s what people are most impressed by. In the old model the idea was that the brand should be stable, consistency was everything. But these days if you stay the same, by definition, you’re five years old.

Are there any spirits brands that you consider to be iconic?

Liquor is interesting because it’s a connoisseur category.

There are a bunch of brands trying to play the iconlite game and they do some really cool things. Absolut had a good run back in the 1980s but killed the brand because it didn’t know what it had. There are lots of interesting stories in the classic brands like the whiskies etc. However, the ones that interest me are the tail brands –the small, artisan boutique brands. My favourites are the ones that are still down the street, being distilled in a copper still.

How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding is published by Harvard Business Review Press.

Find out more about Douglas Holt at douglasholt.org

The Cocktail Lovers - 23

IN-the spotlight

A peek in the archives

with Joanne McKerchar, Senior Archivist at Diageo

26 - The Cocktail Lovers

The Diageo Archive is the largest and most comprehensive spirits brand archive in the world. More than 500,000 items chart the progress of its worldfamous spirits brands across the globe, spanning recipe books and blending notes, production records, advertising and bottles. And the collections are used daily by all parts of the company, from marketing and innovation, to legal and production. Our Archive not only safeguards the heritage of our brands, but inspires everyone across the business to tell brand stories in so many ways. In a world in which we seek authenticity and credibility in the brands we buy, the Archive provides access to an unparalleled wealth of information about the heritage that underpins each one.

IN-the spotlight

PAST + PRESENT

IN PRAISE OF ICONS PAST… Jane Ryan salutes seven of the drinks industry’s finest With the cocktail renaissance not long behind us, we're fortunate that we can experience the skills of the living legends on whose backs was founded a new way of mixing and imbibing drinks. You can read all about those giants further on.

But, because all things end, and some too soon, our history books are scattered with a few brightly shining stars who are no longer with us. Here are the icons we instead can remember and raise a glass to, who shaped the drinks industry and left enormous shoes behind for a new generation to fill.

Dick Bradsell 1977 was the year Dick Bradsell arrived in London.

He would go on to essentially found the city’s cocktail scene, taking younger bartenders under his wing and educating a new generation of UK cocktail makers while propping up the bar at some of London’s most famed, and infamous, venues. But in 1977 the Espresso Martini and the Bramble weren’t even twinkles in Bradsell’s eyes.

Instead he was just about to start his first bartending

28 - The Cocktail Lovers

PHOTOGRAPH: JOHNNIE PACKINGTON

job, which his uncle, who worked for the Ministry of Defence, had secured him at the Naval and Military Club in London.

Naturally Bradsell took to hospitality like a duck to water, and a few years later, barbacking at Zanzibar, his head bartender Ray Cook would pass on to him David Embury’s The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (p. 54). Bradsell took the book, its recipes and its philosophies to heart and it would be the very core of his school of cocktail bartending, from Zanzibar all the way to his final job at El Camion’s Pink Chihuahua in London’s Soho.

Bradsell, rightly, is well known for the drinks he invented, his rigorous training programmes and approach to fresh ingredients – all while America was still heavily relying on sour mix. However, he is hailed as the grandfather of the London bar scene for something even more important: hospitality.

“He would hate that you can’t dance anymore – even at the Atlantic it was all about atmosphere and dancing,” Bea Bradsell, his daughter (pictured with her late father in a photo shoot for this magazine, above), says. “It’s strange that he’s hailed for the drinks he created but for him it was never about that. Dad saw the bigger picture; he saw the night and how it was going. The atmosphere.

The music. I wish I knew the exact number of couples he brought together because he was great at it. It was always about the people.” Bradsell died on 27 February 2016.

IN-the spotlight

Hidetsugu Ueno Here, you find young bartenders from around the world on both sides of the bar. Ueno takes on an impressive number of barbacks anxious to learn from the best. His bar has become a bucket-list destination for everyone in the drinks industry.

Yet he has never lost sight of the nuts and bolts of it despite the continuous hard-earned accolades.

The Japanese focus has been described as an inch wide and a mile deep. If you are going to do something, study it to the extreme “What’s different about Japanese bartending?” Ueno asked the crowd at the final Connoisseur’s Club session in Belfast’s Merchant Hotel.

After a pause, he shouted, “Nothing!”

His statement worked. The audience was gobsmacked.

And his statement is true. Japanese bartending does not employ different ingredients, equipment or techniques. In fact,it is very classic style, more classic than the classic bars of New York, London, and Rome.

The Japanese focus has been described as an inch wide and a mile deep. If you are going to do something, study it to the extreme. Learn everything there is to learn about it, and never stop striving for improvement, not innovations but improvements.

This embodies Hidetsugu Ueno and his Bar High 5, a tiny upstairs bar in the Ginza when we first began to visit in 2013 and now a slightly larger basement bar in the Ginza.

(Thankfully, when Ueno moved High 5, he remained within staggering distance of Star Bar, Ginza, owned by his mentor Mr Kushiro - another icon and truly worth a visit as well).

“How do you deal with so many industry friends at your bar?”

“Here I must be friendly but cannot be a friend. You can’t charge a friend for a drink.”

Here, the details are truly worth watching. The seemingly misshapen hand-carved ice cubes which, if you observe enough drinks being made, tend to get carefully assembled in the mixing glass in the same order each time. The spoons used to taste the drinks rather than straws. (This may have first been an economic decision but has kept tens of thousands of straws out of the landfill.) The amuse bouches are staged for arrival, second, and third drinks. The glassware and tools are exquisite, especially when they are in use, which they always are.

Ueno’s ‘little bar’ is Ueno as himself: It is a personal place, one of those places where you’re likely to be graciously turned away if you arrive without a reservation. Book ahead and look for us down at the far end of the bar.

What do all of our icons share in common? Obsessive attention to the moment, to the guest, to the level of service regardless of the environment or the situation are the hallmarks of each of our choices. They are not stars. They are not prima donnas who are incapable of changing hats when the moment calls. They are the people who make life feel great when you walk in the door, and when you depart into the cool reality of life.

34 - The Cocktail Lovers

IN-the mix

The drinks counter at Dry Martini, Barcelona

The sawdust on the floor at McSorley's Old Ale House, New York

The trolley at Dukes Hotel, London

The only thing better than ordering an ice-cold Martini at any of the Dry Martini bars around the world is seeing the impression your drink has on the rolling tally (1,097,457 at the time of writing). That and the certificate bearing your Martini number that gets handed to you at the end of your visit. Genius.​

Established in 1854, McSorley’s is everything you want the oldestoperating ale house in New York to be.

Historic newspaper articles adorn the walls, a coal-burning stove warms its appreciative guests, sawdust covers the floor and there’s only one drink on the menu. Ale. Light or Dark. Just perfect.

You can get a Martini anywhere but there’s only one Duke’s Martini trolley.

It’s not the smartest in the world but that’s a part of its charm, watch in wonder as Alessandro Palazzi or one of his team mix up your ice-cold, fiendishly strong Martini table side. Once tasted, never forgotten.​

The chicken soup at Employees Only, New York

The comic book menus at The Dead Rabbit, New York

Every night is party night at Employees Only, which is why it’s easy to find yourself still at the bar near closing. There is a reward for die-hards though: the legendary cup of chicken soup that gets handed out to customers. Consider it a friendly goodbye.

Drinks menus went on to a whole new level when the Dead Rabbit team fashioned theirs into a series of highly collectable comic books. Each one is painstakingly researched and meticulously designed, featuring legends from the drinks industry.

The Cocktail Lovers - 41

IN-focus

Mmm is for Martini Jake Burger ponders the evolution birth of the Martini “Jake, could you write a thousand words on the evolution of the Martini?”

“A thousand words? That can’t be hard, I could write a thousand words on how one should garnish a Martini…”

It goes without saying that voluminous tomes have already been dedicated to the Martini, even the most scant of online searches will deluge you with articles detailing the more established theories of its origin story, and an ill-advised dip into the relevant social media threads will find one disappearing down a rabbit hole of ‘rules’, precedents and misattributed quotes.

“Yes the Martini, more so than any other drink, inspires debate,” as Hemingway* once put it.

42 - The Cocktail Lovers

So rather than feeding a fed horse with those familiar old tales, I shall instead elucidate on some of the lesserknown epochs of the Martini’s story.

When does our story start?

Before we understand how the Martini came to be we must understand what came before it. The Cocktail. Now, even I am not foolhardy enough to try and squeeze my take on the origin of the cocktail into the confines of this article, so I’m going to ask you to just accept that by the 1860s the cocktail was one of the many styles of mixed drinks that were popular in the United States. Cocktails were composed of a spirit – usually gin, brandy or whisky – mixed with something sweet like sugar syrup, orange curaçao or maraschino, and something bitter, like

IN-style

BEST IN SHOW Five iconic bottles that shine out from the back bar

Photography: Jason Baily and Oliver Blackburn at Jason Bailey Studio

01

Absolut Vodka On paper, there's no way that the Absolut Vodka bottle should have achieved iconic status when it launched in New York in 1979. It's got a short, stubby neck, a squat body based on a traditional 18th- century Swedish medicine flask and no visible label – not exactly the sexiest calling card. But drawing on its striking simplicity, the tagline ‘Absolut Perfection ‘ was born, featuring a halo crowning the cap of the bottle. Then when Andy Warhol gave it his seal of approval by fashioning its shape into one of his trademark paintings, he propelled it to supermodel status. Since then, the brand has worked with a number of artists to produce numerous collectors editions including Absolut Originality, Absolut Colors and Absolut Rock . absolut.com

02

Bombay Sapphire Gin With its striking blue glass and dramatic flat-sided silhouette, there's no mistaking that Bombay Sapphire was created to make people think differently about gin. Or more specifically, think creatively. Bombay Sapphire gin is distinguished by its balanced flavour profile making it one of the world’s most versatile gins – the perfect canvas for cocktail creativity.

As part of its global mission to Stir Creativity, the brand has a long history of collaborating with an array of both emerging and established artistic talents. This year Bombay Sapphire is inviting us all to embrace our creative self-expression and 'Discover the Possibilities Within', whether it’s something as simple as adding your own touch to a gin and tonic or creating a bold new artwork.

bombaysapphire.com

03

Patrón Tequila It might not be noticeable to the naked eye but despite the very distinct shape – all gently sloping shoulders and proud, squat stance – no two bottles of Patrón Tequila are exactly the same. That’s because each one is crafted from recycled glass, individually signed, numbered and crowned with a sustainably sourced cork before being trimmed with a silk ribbon. All by hand. They’re hand polished too. In fact, no less than 60 pairs of hands touch and inspect each bottle before it leaves the Hacienda Patrón. Proof that the brand takes its premium credentials very seriously.

patrontequila.com

IN-style

IN-style

04

ANGOSTURAÂŽ aromatic bitters The bright yellow cap is one thing but the real reason that the mighty ANGOSTURAÂŽ aromatic bitters bottle has achieved iconic status is its oversized label. The story goes that it came by accident when one son of founder Dr Johann Siegert designed the bottle, while another designed the label. Neither consulted the other about the exact measurements. They realised their mistake when both bottle and labels were delivered but as they were on deadline to enter the product for a competition, they had no time to make the necessary adjustments. They didn't win the contest but they did gain some invaluable advice: not to tamper with the bottle or its supersized label. And the rest, as they say, is history.

angosturabitters.com

05

St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur There's more than a hint of nostalgia in the exquisite StGermain bottle design, but there's a fresh, timeless quality to it too. Created as a tribute to the vibrant Art Deco movement in 1920s France, its tall, slender appearance is enhanced by the multifaceted glass and reinforced with the luxurious weight of the bottle. Each one is capped with a heavy stopper, individually numbered and marked with the year the delicate elderflower crop was harvested.

stgermain.fr

IN-style

Clockwise from top: william powell and myrna loy in ‘the thin man’; bette davis in ‘all about eve’; frank sinatra and bing crosby, stars of ‘high society’, audrey hepburn in the famous apartment scene in ‘breakfast at tiffany’s’

The Cocktail Lovers - 51

IN-style

above: doris day and rock hudson in ‘pillow talk’; opposite: the memorable train scene from ‘the palm beach story’

Pillow Talk (1959) Doris Day and Rock Hudson were the definitive couple who exuded chemistry. Their joyous pairing led to a series of films, starting with the best, Pillow Talk. From Hudson’s fully stocked bachelor-pad bar to a series of boldly coloured lounges we wish we could hang out in, the film oozes kitsch culture and exuberance. Thelma Ritter’s hard-drinking character and morning hair-of-the-dog cocktails keep it real (and hilarious), while Hudson summarises it best when playing a fake character from Texas: “Never drink anything stronger than you... or younger.”

Dean Martin’s Matt Helm films (1966-1969) One shouldn’t talk cocktail culture without bringing the mid-century’s most beloved ‘drunk’ into the conversation: Dean Martin. Famous for faking being perpetually buzzed, the silky-voiced Italian singer made a career – and long-lived TV show – out of constantly carrying a cocktail in hand and subtly slurring his speech. He could have ridden on that spectacular voice alone but his sloppy witticisms made him the whole package. His ridiculously kitschy, four-film Matt Helm series, a James Bond/spy spoof, is a clear inspiration for Austin Powers. While Dean’s fully outfitted bachelor pad

52 - The Cocktail Lovers

is unforgettable, no image encapsulates the insanity more than his 1966 Mercury Station Wagon lined with white leather, curtains (to turn the car into a bed, naturally) and a fully stocked Martini bar… in the front seat.

All About Eve (1950) The ever-brilliant Bette Davis is in peak form in All About Eve, delivering the iconic line, “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night”. Written and directed by Joseph L Mankiewicz, it is the greatest of his many excellent scripts: sharp, smart and complex, full of sarcastic humour and social commentary. But, like the also iconic train scene in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959), where Cary Grant sips a Gibson, Davis makes a case for the ultimate scene with the same cocktail as she utters the famed line while walking upstairs in front of an eclectic dinner party – which includes a then unknown Marilyn Monroe.

IN-style

Clockwise from left: XXXXX

Designing Woman (1957) Drinking in films is as ubiquitous as breathing and never did it look so good as in Hollywood’s Golden Age

The Palm Beach Story (1942) Preston Sturges was one of Hollywood’s all-time great directors and writers, a major inspiration for filmmakers like the Coen Brothers, who named Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? after a line from Sturges’s Sullivan’s Travels.

The Palm Beach Story is one of his treasures, a romantic screwball comedy packed with wacky humour (physical and dialogue) and sharp pacing. Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea star, with Colbert sneaking on a train as a guest of the hard-partying Ale & Quail Club. Their raucous train car party, which includes singing and a shoot-out, is a prime example of Sturges’s humour and a cocktail party that (no pun intended) goes off the rails.

Winning an Oscar for its screenplay, the Vincente Minnelli-directed Designing Woman is a delightful showcase for icons Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall in a romantic comedy colourful with fashion, sleek apartment design and one of the ultimate hangover montages at the still iconic Beverly Hills Hotel, complete with exaggerated sounds and neon-pink sky.

Home to yet another killer apartment bar, the contrast between the house parties of the newly married couple’s Poker Club and Drama Society is exemplified in their drinking choices: rounds of beer for the former, decanters, spirits and cocktails for the latter. Things come to a head in a scene where Peck and Bacall try to simultaneously host their differing parties in their apartment on the same night.

THE END

The Cocktail Lovers - 53

IN-formed

HOOKED ON CLASSICS There's a reason some drinks have stood the test of time. Joe and Daniel Schofield highlight their favourites Why did we want to write a cocktail book featuring the 100 most classic – and in some ways most iconic – cocktails?

Over the past 25 years, we have been developing our craft as bartenders. And along the way, we have worked with some amazing people (you know who you are) who continue to inspire us and have helped shape us to be the people we are today. We wanted to share our thought process, techniques and recipes with the world.

We had a dream to create a book for bartenders and consumers alike, a tool that gives you recipes and the history of cocktails, while also explaining why we do things a certain way in pursuit of a great drink.

Throughout our careers spanning London, Singapore, Paris and Melbourne, we have always understood the importance of respecting the past before looking to the future. There are some very inspiring cocktail books out there, certainly worthy of our respect and admiration, but as time passes, palates change. The recipes in our book reflect the way we think those drinks taste best.

This is, of course, our opinion – and one of the great things about mixed drinks is that they are so personal.

What works for us may not work for you.

In the book, we are proud to share an additional 20 or so recipes by our friends from around the globe, who are leading the industry today. They put forward drinks that

56 - The Cocktail Lovers

are in a relatively classic style, and easy to replicate in your kitchen or at the bar.

So while we've left them out here, in Schofield’s Fine and Classic Cocktails each recipe includes our preference of spirits for the drink. We have featured our favourite liquids, taking into consideration price point and global availability, and we would be proud to serve them over any bar that we work in.

Many of the drinks within our book have stood the test of time, but here we have selected what we believe to be the most iconic…

IN-formed

far left: bellini; above: l-r: joe and daniel schofield; right: bloody mary

Bellini We have always been enamoured by the institutional bars of the world. Harry’s Bar in Venice is legendary: Giuseppe Cipriani created the Bellini there in 1945, using only the freshest white peaches. The bar also has its own farm, solely growing peaches to make the fresh puree for its cocktail. The drink transcended the sparkling wine category, which is ever-growing in popularity. If you are fortunate enough to visit Harry’s, the Bellini is simply breathtaking. We throw ours [mixing by pouring from height], as the slight dilution and extra aeration creates a smoother texture and really opens up the drink.

Ingredients: 50ml white peach puree 100ml Prosecco Glassware: Fizz Ice: Served without Garnish: Served without Preparation: Throw

Martini Perhaps the most iconic cocktail of all time, with connotations of luxury, elegance and sophistication. If made with care, perfection. It’s so iconic, that what was once known as a ‘cocktail glass’ is now more commonly referred to as a ‘Martini glass’. We will refine and elevate this serve with our own dry vermouth, being brought to market in the coming months. Schofield’s Dry Vermouth uses beautiful English grapes as a base and is being produced by the very talented Asterley Bros, based in London.

Ingredients: 60ml gin 10ml vermouth 1 drop orange bitters

Bloody Mary There are a number of claims to the origins of the drink, perhaps the most credible being Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. It isn’t easy to mix a savoury drink, which is perhaps why it is so popular, and it definitely isn’t easy to beat an exceptional Bloody Mary! Ever wondered why they are enjoyed on aeroplanes? Umami is pretty much the only taste you can enjoy at altitude, and tomato is packed full of it. Nowadays popular as a hangover cure or brunch drink, the Bloody Mary is known worldwide as an eye-opening pick-me-up. We like to add a touch of passata to ours, as it creates a thicker texture that is more intense on the palate.

Ingredients: 50ml vodka 80ml tomato mix (a blend of tomato juice and passata) 10ml lemon juice Pinch of celery salt Pinch of black pepper 15ml Worcestershire sauce 3 dashes Tabasco hot sauce Glassware: Highball Ice: Block ice Garnish: Celery stick Preparation: Build

It isn’t easy to mix a savoury drink, which is perhaps why it is so popular, and it definitely isn’t easy to beat an exceptional Bloody Mary!

Glassware: Martini Ice: Served without Garnish: Green Sicilian olive or lemon coin Preparation: Stir

The Cocktail Lovers - 57

IN-formed

The

Cocktail

Girl

In pursuit of London’s coolest bars.

Notable nibbles

RULES Shhh, don’t tell anyone, the bar upstairs at Rules is my absolute favourite place to sit and while away a few hours when all I want is a bloody good drink. No gimmicky cocktail menus, no music, no look at me fancy-pants glassware and garnishes, this is a place where the drinks take centre stage and guests can take their time to enjoy them.

There’s history too. Rules is London’s oldest restaurant, established in 1798 and the room that the bar occupies was where Edward VII and his mistress Lillie Langtry used to dine in private. These days, you can still imagine a cheeky liaison could possibly take place, purely because it’s so proper, so discreet, but mainly it’s taken up with pre- and post-dinner guests and cocktail lovers in the know.

Which brings me back to my visit… If I’m clever and get my timings right, it might just be me at the bar and I’ll have head bartender and all-round drinks god Brian Silva all to myself. I might choose something from the menu – usually a Dry Martini (Bombay Gin, vermouth blend) or The Rules Vesper (Sipsmith Gin, Sipsmith Vodka, Sacred Amber Vermouth), but there are many others such as the current crowd pleasers: two cocktails created for the Duchesses. There’s The Duchess of Cambridge (Audemus Pink Pepper Gin, Lillet, Finlandia Vodka and petal powder, plus a little citrus); and The Duchess of Sussex (François Voyer Cognac, Champagne nectar, St-Germain Elderf lower Liqueur and citrus). But if I’m feeling particularly indecisive, I might leave it to Brian to mix up something that he thinks will match my mood. Or he might surprise me with something he’s trying with a new product.

Either way, while he does so, I feel my shoulders easing away from my ears and gently relaxing. In this delightfully elegant setting – all plush red leather and velvet seating, deep mahogany-panelled walls, open fireplace and rich, swirly patterned carpet – there’s even a new Winter Garden Cocktail Terrace – all the hustle and bustle of London life is left outside.

And with Brian making my drink, I know a first-class libation is coming to mama. At this moment, all is well with the world and I can’t help but smile.

This place to me is a true London icon – long may it reign. rules.co.uk

We’re fighting the corner for the oftoverlooked Twiglet. Sure there are newer, fancier, some might even say tastier snacks out there. So what? There’s something about the big umami thwack that these wheat-based, yeast extractcovered snacks deliver that works so well with any drink that you throw at them.

Plus they’re friendly on the wallet and we’re never going to argue about that.

BUY THE BOOK

KISS, (or keep it simple, Sipsmith-stylee), with 100 – yes, 100 – gin cocktails made with just three ingredients. There are Classics (Negroni, Silver Bullet, Pink Gin, Aviation, White Lady), New Takes (White Negroni, Modern Pink Gin, Ginza Collins), and Occasion Drinks (Rhubarb Jammer, Hot Gin & Tonic, Two-Sherry-Tini), all of which are easy to make and absolute bangers on the taste front.

‘Sip: 100 gin cocktails with only three ingredients’, is published by Octopus Books. octopusbooks.co.uk

The Cocktail Lovers - 63

IN-formed

CREATE A STIR EACH MONTH 19-21 October RumFest Ritmo Tropical 45ml Bacardí Añejo Cuatro 15ml Martini Bianco 30ml sweetened pineapple juice 15ml lime juice 3 dashes Peychaud’s aromatic bitters Absinthe mist Method: Shake all ingredients over ice. Strain into a Coupette glass and spritz with absinthe mist.

(Recipe by Nicole Fas)

28 November Thanksgiving Day Hot Apple Cider 1.5 litres dry cider

The drinks selection at Hide Below

Whisky is the star of the show at Black Rock

WINTER WARMERS There's nothing like a wee dram to shake off the winter blues. We won’t lie, our favourite place to enjoy it at this time of year is curled up at home but if we have to go out, then these three London venues get our vote: Hide Below–All sinuous, sexy wood and soft, moody lighting, this beautifully designed basement bar whispers date night. The cocktails from Oskar Kinberg and his team are bang on the money in the flavour department and the whisky selection is top-notch. hide.co.uk Sexy Fish–If, on the other hand, we’re in more of a glam-it-up party mood, then Sexy Fish, comes up trumps every time. You can’t beat its Japanese whisky selection (over 400 and counting) and its cocktail list isn’t too shabby either.

7tbsp Calvados

sexyfish.com

400ml apple juice

Black Rock–More low-key than its West End counterparts this one is a must for whisky lovers and newbies alike. Whisky with and without an ‘e’ is the star of the show in the basement bar, ground-floor tavern and the Blending Room on the first floor.

75g dark brown sugar zest of one orange, pared into strips 4 whole cloves 2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half

blackrock.bar

1tbsp allspice berries Method: Pour the cider, Calvados, apple juice and sugar into a large saucepan, and gently heat to mull. Add the orange zest and spices, bring to a simmer, then turn down and keep on a low heat for 20-30 mins. Ladle into glass mugs to serve.

(Recipe from BBC Good Food)

1 December World AIDS Day Red Russian 50ml cherry liqueur 50ml vodka Ice Red fruit to garnish (optional) Method: Pour cherry liqueur and vodka in a Rocks glass over ice. Garnish with fruit (optional).

DRINKING IN HISTORY For longevity alone, these five London drinking spots deserve a special place in the icons issue. Check out: For beer: Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (1667) For wine (to drink): Gordon’s Wine Bar (1890) For wine (to buy): Berry Bros & Rudd (1668) For tea: Twinings (1706) For coffee: Algerian Coffee Stores (1887)

64 - The Cocktail Lovers

IN-formed

SOCIAL SHOUT OUT The aerial view drink shots @lecocktailconnoisseur never disappoint. Check them out.

Atelier

WHERE WE’VE BEEN Atelier Cocktail Bar, Gran Canaria–The Canary Islands are renowned for year-long sun and full-on nightlife. Good cocktail bars? Not so much.

Atelier is the exception. Here’s where we found Raimondo Palomba and his team making a fab selection of cocktails. Yes, they’re on the crowdpleasing, Instagram-friendly side – which is no bad thing these days, but that said, they’re extremely well balanced and thought out. Look out for the new menu dropping soon. atelier.com Hôtel Barrière Le Majestic, Cannes–Considering the lovey-like location you'd be forgiven for thinking that this historic hotel, overlooking the red carpet if you don’t mind, would be all air kisses and Champers. Not a bit of it. Using herbs from the grounds and honey from the roof, Emanuele Balestra stirs up a winning combo of classics and creative drinks worthy of the jetset. hotelbarriere.com Reviews at thecocktaillovers.com

ONE FOR THE DRINKS CABINET RTD cocktails, in or out? We veered towards the latter for a while but we’re happy to say, bottled cocktails are having their moment. Top of our list atm is the tasty new collection from Harvey Nichols. Not only are the minimalist bottles pretty damned sharp, they taste pretty spesh too. We’re loving the Vesper Martini (Portobello Road Gin, Fair Vodka, Lillet Blanc Vermouth and lemon oil). Serve straight from the freezer in an ice cold Martini glass and tell us it isn’t as good as something you’d make yourself. harveynichols.com

Top of the shops Speaking of icons, we couldn’t possibly leave out our favourite drinks shop in the whole wide world. Ladies and gents, please be upstanding for Gerry’s Wine & Spirits in Soho, London. Opened in 1985 by Michael Kyprianou and run by Allen Daly and Vince Hopwood, it’s a veritable Aladdin’s cave of popular and rare spirits from around the globe. Visit them whenever you’re in town or get them to deliver your booze to you – they ship to 20 countries. gerrys.uk.com

2020 vision: what’s in store for next year…

It’s all about wellbeing people. Expect more low abv and non-alcoholic beverages to hit the shelves as well as a growth of drinks containing CBD. Then there are fermented drinks, brewing up a storm in all manner of varieties. Get set to drink to your health.

The Cocktail Lovers - 65

IN-ternational

ICONIC DRINKS AND WHERE TO TRY THEM

by Jane Ryan

IN-ternational

A Singapore Sling at Raffles, a Bellini at Harry’s in Venice, a Vieux Carré at the Carousel Bar in New Orleans – there are plenty of drinks that cocktail lovers can worship at the source. Sometimes this fusion of history and booze creates a moment so sublime it opens up a window to the past. Often, however, an iconic drink served from behind the bar it was invented at is more disappointment than your average barfly’s heart can handle.

Iconic drinks deserve to be prepared with all the love and dedication that Alessandro Palazzi puts into his Martinis and none of the sticky, pre-batched tourist juice that they often turn into. Skip the queues and the underwhelming drinks for these well-made cocktails instead.

FRENCH 75

this page: the singapore sling at raffles hotel; right: frech 75 at arnaud’s, the bar at arnaud’s

The drink: A drink with this name – originally written in French as Soixante-Quinze – first surfaces in 1915 in an American newspaper which lists its ingredients as one-third gin, onethird grenadine, one-third apple-jack and a dash of lemon juice. It is, of course, an entirely unrecognisable cocktail to what we order today.

Invented, or so the limited evidence suggests, by Harry MacElhone when he was working at 5 Rue Daunou, the drink would slowly evolve into the gin or cognac base with lemon, sugar and Champagne that we know and love.

David Embury’s The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks where the first reference to a cognac base crops up.

The bar is moody, bustling and feels an appropriate spot to order the classic cocktail, which they have down to a fine art. Presented in a six-ounce, tulipshaped Champagne glass (left) and garnished with a simple swath of lemon peel, it’s neither the cocktail Harry invented nor the bar he invented it in, but boy does it taste crisp and bright.

VIEUX CARRÉ Where to drink it: As for 5 Rue Daunou? That would be purchased by Harry after the war and become the famed Harry’s New York Bar, which is still open at that exact Parisian address today.

For €16 you can pop along and try the gin-based classic tipple, even if it’s a very different drink to Harry’s original. Be warned though – the bar takes its American theme seriously and bar food comes in the form of hotdogs while the walls are decorated with college banners. Not exactly the old-world glamour of the roaring 20s the drink conjures up. Instead, we suggest taking a trip south to New Orleans and ordering a French 75 at the eponymously named Arnaud’s French 75 Bar. Here the cocktail comes with a cognac base, in honour of the drink’s French origin, and influenced by

The drink: Made up of Benedictine, bitters, rye whiskey, vermouth and cognac, the Vieux Carré is perfect proof that nowhere mixes it quite as strong and boozy as The Big Easy.

Where to drink it: Invented in the Hotel Monteleone’s spinning Carousel Bar by Walter Bergeron in 1938, this famed classic is still the bar’s most frequently ordered cocktail. And what a bar – turning an entire rotation every 15 minutes, its steady pace is timed to perfection to make the experience enjoyable but far from sickly.

With its vintage carousel decor, right down to the enormous awning with golden lights and detailed paintings, the ornate bar stools and the warm New Orleans-style hospitality, this is one destination that won’t disappoint an enthusiastic drinker in search of a sip of cocktail history.

The Cocktail Lovers - 67

ice-cold martini at dukes

NEGRONI The drink: The Negroni has two stories of origin. One is increasingly proven to be, shall we say, somewhat unfounded but involves the Wild West cowboy, New York gambler and Florence native Count Negroni, who is said to have asked for a kick to his Americano and got a dose of gin instead of soda water. The other is a more complex, and probably historically accurate, development of the drink from a vermouth cocktail stirred up by a man called General Pascal Olivier Comte de Negroni. The first story, and the most well-known, is still the more popular one because it simply sounds better. It also takes place in a Florence bar called Caffè Giacosa, which up until 2017 was still in operation. Alas no more.

Where to drink it: Whether it was Count Negroni or General Negroni, Florence is still the ultimate pilgrimage spot for any true lover of the iconic stirred, bitter and red cocktail. Head to Il Rifrullo, a Florentine aperitivo institution in the riverside San Niccolò neighbourhood, which boasts beautiful garden seating. It’s a laid-back restaurant that often tops the ‘best aperitivo’ lists for its mix of Italian and international food and classic drinks.

Or order a Negroni at Sesto on Arno, with its breathtaking 360-degree panoramic view of the city and the Tuscan hills beyond.

MARTINI The drink: There’s arguably no British character more iconic than James Bond and no drink more intrinsically tied to a fictional person than the Martini. Why vodka?

Back when Ian Fleming was penning his spy novels, vodka was a somewhat exotic spirit from a then unfamiliar East and having Bond order it showed how travelled he was.

As for the shaking, this demonstrated an authoritative personality who knew what he wanted and how he liked it.

68 - The Cocktail Lovers

il rufrullo in florence

Where to drink it: While there are plenty of bars that serve a brilliant, cold and well-balanced Martini, ordering one from Alessandro Palazzi’s trolley at Dukes Bar in London’s St James’s is as close as you can come to sharing one with the spy himself – after all, this is the hotel where Fleming stayed, wrote and drunk Martinis all those years ago. The hotel is secreted in the back streets off Piccadilly, and has the look and feel of an old boys’ club from a PG Wodehouse novel. The bar is a far cry from modern, as disapproving posh portraits watch over the evening. It’s utterly British and utterly delightful. The Martinis are in a league of their own. So ice-cold they’ll give you brain freeze faster than a 7-Eleven slushie. Big dollops of gin or vodka, stirred with a hint of herbaceous vermouth. Twists of aromatic and oily lemon peel finish it off as Alessandro’s obsessive third ingredient. Two is never enough but it’s all you’re allowed.

SINGAPORE SLING The drink: Originating at Raffles Hotel, born from bartender Ngiam Tong Boon, Singapore’s national cocktail was created to resemble fruit juice when it was socially unacceptable for women to consume alcohol. As a long, cooling cocktail, it works a lot better in the muggy heat of a sleepy Singaporean afternoon than it does in chilly London, so before anyone gets too judgemental about pineapple, cherry and Benedictine acting as the stars of the show, they should remember we’re shaking off the drain of humidity as much as thirst with a Singapore Sling.

Where to drink it: For a long time a sling from Raffles was spoken about in drinking circles as a rather underwhelming affair. Its pre-mixed status became legendary as the hotel’s Long Bar fired out Sling after Singapore Sling to the tourists who literally queued at the door before settling in to consume as many free monkey nuts as possible, throwing the empty shells to the floor with abandon. There simply wasn’t, and still isn’t, time

King Cole Bar at the St Regis, New York

to measure out each of the cocktail’s eight ingredients.

But – insider tip – after a recent closure to spruce up the bar and hotel, things have taken a decided turn for the better. These days the queues of tourists are still there, as are the monkey nuts and the shell-covered floor. The recipe remains the same too, but the team are now using more craft ingredients rather than commercially made ones. The colouring is all natural, and some ingredients, including the bitters, are made especially for the bar, meaning the experience of ordering a Singapore Sling from Raffles should still be on any traveller’s to-do list.

BELLINI

The drink: Marinating fresh peaches in white wine is a long-held Italian tradition – two ingredients the dolce vita country has had in abundance over the years. An extension of this fresh and moreish flavour combination, the Bellini was invented by Giuseppe Cipriani in 1945 at his own Venice spot, Harry’s Bar, which he’d opened in 1931 on the waterfront by St Mark’s Square. Named after a 15th-century Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini, who was famed for his use of pink hues, the cocktail enjoyed popularity from the first day of its invention.

Where to drink it: As for the bar, that’s still there, and like the other Harry’s in Paris, this was one of Ernest Hemingway’s frequented drinking spots, alongside chums such as F Scott Fitzgerald, Orson Welles and Dorothy

Parker. As for the Bellini, try it in the summer when, from May till September, fresh peaches are used instead of the puree deferred to in the winter months.

BLOODY MARY The drink: To get a true taste of the historical Bloody Mary we need to let George Jessel and Fernand ‘Pete’ Petiot sling it out for the title of creator-in-chief. There was, of course, a non-alcoholic concoction that was doing the rounds in the 1890s in London called an Oyster Cocktail, which the London Hospital wrote is for “the benefit of those who may be possessed of suicidal intentions” and called for tomato juice, salt, Tabasco, lemon juice, horseradish, black pepper and seven small oysters, stirred together and served warm. But we’re not recommending a hospital to serve iconic drinks in now are we?

George Jessel (a 1920s film star) has his claim to the Bloody Mary dating to 1927, saying he invented the drink one morning when he needed something to blow the cobwebs away after an entire night on the sauce. It’s a good story but it doesn’t leave us with any more than tomato juice and vodka in a Palm Beach bar. Instead, far worthier of a pilgrimage is Fernand ‘Pete’ Petiot’s version. Working in Harry’s New York Bar in Paris (here we go again), he’s said to have mixed them for the likes of Ernest Hemingway (really that man may as well be tied to every drink ever invented) Rita Hayworth and Humphrey Bogart.

Where to drink it: Petiot took his drink with him after leaving Paris, first to London’s Savoy and then to New York’s St Regis hotel, where he remained at the King Cole Bar until his retirement, probably serving his creation with the more readily available gin initially before reverting back to vodka, and all the while calling it a Red Snapper. To this day the bar is famous for this drink, and allegedly the city’s notorious gangster Frank Costello once remarked that Petiot had made one for every single US president who served between 1934 to his retirement in 1972 – except Lyndon B Johnson.

The Cocktail Lovers - 69

IN-sight

Last word 'Throwing' a cocktail ain't easy, which makes it one of the most delightful sights to behold.

Precise, rhythmical, fluid – it's a ccarefully choreographed routine that requires bags of confidence and bucketloads of style. No one did it quite like the late, great María Dolores Boadas who ram the show at the legendary Boadas in Barcelona for over 30 years. She's no longer there but, thankfully, the art of mesmerising throw continues. Be sure to stop by for the show. boadascocktails.com

Interviews News Features Fashion Food Travel Recipes & a whole lot more The Cocktail Lovers magazine, ingredients for more than just great drinks

Packed full of cocktail-loving goodness, The Cocktail Lovers magazine is published four times a year in glorious print. What’s more, it’s free so when you subscribe you just pay for postage and handling. Subscribe today and get every issue delivered to your door!

For more details and to start your subscription, visit TCLsubs.com